20 Healthy Protein Bar Recipes So Good It Feels Wrong

If you like to make delicious on-the-go snacks, you’ll love these healthy protein bar recipes.

Generally speaking, store-bought protein bars suck for a few reasons:

They’re often full of artificial sweeteners, fillers, and other chemicals

They almost always contain blends of low-quality oils and protein powders

They usually taste like crap

Homemade protein bars on the other hand…they can be amazing. They’re easy to make, can taste like a dessert while being quite nutritious, and they don’t make much of a caloric dent in your meal planning.

These protein bar recipes work for pre-workout and post-workout nutrition, or just for adding a little taste and variety to your daily routing.

Enjoy!

Almond Butter Protein Fudge

Picture courtesy of Running with Spoons

These protein bars are so rich and moist, they’re an awesome dessert that doesn’t feel like a sacrifice.

The drizzle of chocolate is just enough to satisfy cravings, and the almond protein fudge itself is so good it’s not like the chocolate is trying to trick you into eating health food. And unlike most protein desserts, these come in small pieces of fudge, encouraging you to slowly savor them instead of wolfing down the whole serving in a couple bites.

Rocky Road Protein Bar

Picture courtesy of Fitness Treats

If you want to make sweet, chewy protein bars in a variety of Quest-like flavors, there’s just one secret ingredient you need.

VitaFiber syrup is slightly sweet, but it’s actually a soluble fiber that adds very few calories. It helps bind together your favorite protein powder with any mix-ins you enjoy to make a customized protein bar.

Cookies & Cream Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Chef This Up

Forget about manufactured blandness, and make a homemade candy bar with way fewer ingredients, yet more protein.

These have a base of coconut butter and cashew butter, so they’re every bit as rich as most desserts. Real chocolate chunks also add to the indulgent flavor. But there’s minimal sugar – less than 10 grams – and a little protein powder for good measure.

Strawberry Coconut Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Chocolate Chilli Mango

Whole fruit can really send a protein bar over the top, but the fresh kind isn’t always practical for portable treats.

That’s why this recipe uses dehydrated strawberries instead, mixed with shredded coconut. What you’ll end up with is a cross between a Mounds bar and a chocolate-covered strawberry – but with the macros of a paleo protein bar.

Cherry Vanilla Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Hummusapien

These look a lot like cookies, but they’re actually no-bake protein bars that taste like oatmeal cookies.

You can even replace the cherries with raisins – or any kind of dried fruit – although it’s hard to top the original version of this nutrient-dense, low-calorie snack. But keep in mind that like most raw protein bars, these should be stored in the fridge or freezer.

Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of 12-Minute Athlete

These crispy peanut butter bars are a great alternative to eating a Snickers, Milky Way, or Hundred Grand. It’s just as good with crisped rice and crunchy peanut butter, but there’s also a bit of chocolate protein powder.

To further lighten this up, the bars are only partially dipped in chocolate. And the use of PB2 adds extra peanutty flavor with less fat.

Almond Joy Protein Bar

Picture courtesy of Real Energy Food

Protein bars get a bad rap for being too close to candy bars – as if that’s a bad thing!

When you get a craving for chocolate-covered candy, like a tasty Almond Joy, it’s definitely an upgrade to have a homemade version spiked with your favorite protein powder. And really, this one is a lot like the original candy aside from the protein, so making these is a win-win.

Chocolate Mint Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of The Healthy Maven

These protein bars use the same base as Larabars: dates and nuts. But you need something to tone down the stickiness, like protein powder. It just takes a few more ingredients to bring these simple bars together.

Put it all in the food processor, and press it into a square pan. Start to finish, the steps only take a few minutes.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Darabee

Not all protein bars have to act like baked goods. These have similar ingredients – oatmeal, peanut butter, coconut milk, and protein powder – but there’s no need to turn on the oven. Mix it all together, flatten it into a dish, and leave them in the fridge to set.

These granola protein bars couldn’t be easier to make, and they taste like peanut butter oatmeal. And if you want leaner macros, you can make them with coconut milk instead of cream.

Tropical Quinoa Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Food Faith Fitness

These appear to be granola bars, but don’t be fooled by looks alone. They’re actually superfood protein bars packed with quinoa, chickpeas, and protein powder. But thankfully that’s not the end to the list of nutritious ingredients.

These are chewy granola bars for grown-ups, packaging the flavor of a tropical dessert with wholesome ingredients.

Chewy Superfood Hemp Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Nutrition Stripped

When you want to mix up your protein sources, hemp is a great alternative that’s often overlooked. It gets a bad rap because, while the calories in whey isolate are 90% protein (or more!), hemp protein powder contains about 50% protein.

Yet that’s far from a bad thing when you consider what’s in the other half of that scoop. Over a quarter of the nutrients are fiber, and you’re also getting both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

Warrior’s Peanut Butter Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Iron Raspberry

When you’re eating to bulk, you should be increasing calories by a moderate amount, say about 10% (the amount depends on where you’re at and what your goals are). So you might get an extra snack, or slightly larger portions, but that doesn’t mean you want to go overboard on fats.

With oats and dates, this is a good protein bar for when you can handle more calories and could use pre-workout fuel.

Chocolate Banana Bread Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Oh She Glows

If you need a protein bar to fuel your workout or to take on a long endurance training session, this quinoa bar is perfect.

You can get as creative as you ant with these, too, by swapping ingredients out or adding your favorites to the mix. Try replacing dates with figs, or tossing in a handful of pumpkin seeds, coconut or chocolate chips.

Fudge Brownie Chocolate Protein Bars

Picture courtesy of Chocolate Covered Katie

Traditionally, fudge is made from chocolate, butter, and everything nice. Well, minus the not-so-nice sugar, calories, and fat. That excludes them from meal plans unless you sub in black beans as a replacement. That will drastically cut down the calories while sneaking in some vitamins and minerals.